Veteran volunteer keeps giving

The son of Ethiopian immigrants, Medin Admasu avoided being sucked into a life of drugs and crime, and now wants to help other youths make good choices, reports Maria Kubacki

The Ottawa Citizen
Aug. 28 , 2006

Page C3

By Maria Kubacki

Photo: Rod McIvor

Posted with permission from the Ottawa Citizen.

"It's easy to sell drugs, it's easy to get into a lot of fights," says the Community Foundation of Ottawa's youth programs co-ordinator, who's now working to try to help other disadvantaged children get involved in their communities. "Those things are easy. They're in your face all the time."

Unlike his many friends in the Foster Farm community, Mr. Admasu was lucky enough to be raised by both parents.

"Most people only have their mum," he said.

His parents were hard-working and had "strong values" and ambition, he says, adding that they moved out of the projects two years ago, buying their own house in a middle-class neighbourhood in Aylmer.

They encouraged and supported him.

"That's a big difference between me and other people," he says.

With their help, he managed to avoid the path of least resistance. He started playing competitive basketball at the Britannia Boys and Girls Club and later, he got involved in youth leadership groups.

"Medin was one of those kids who couldn't do enough for others," recalls Boys and Girls Club program supervisor Tim Boisvert. "He's very, very kind and unselfish."

"Medin always tried to change things," says Phillippe Juste, a close friend who grew up in Foster Farm.

His efforts weren't always appreciated. "There's a lot of kids that used to make fun of him," recalls Mr. Juste.

But Mr. Admasu refused to be discouraged. When he was 13, he joined the youth leadership group at the Boys and Girls Club after being lured to a meeting by the promise of pizza. He's never looked back.

At 24, he's a veteran of countless volunteer organizations, including the Boys and Girls Club, West-Side Youth Against Crime, the Ethiopian Community Association of Canada, Black History Ottawa, Youth Canada Association, and Child & Youth Friendly Ottawa. He's organized bake sales, talent shows, and hip hop conferences. He even hosted a talk show produced by the Boys and Girls Club.

The skills and experience he picked up from his volunteer work helped him get scholarships to study human rights and law at Carleton University. He graduated this spring and will either go on to do graduate work or go to law school with a view to becoming a children's rights lawyer.

Now, in his job as the Community Foundation of Ottawa's youth programs co-ordinator, he is overseeing the first Youth-Led Community Action Projects, projects developed by and for youth, and aimed at combating discrimination and violence.

The initiative is a pilot project supported by the foundation, Ottawa's Youth Advisory Committee, and the Department of Canadian Heritage. Nine projects were funded, each receiving up to $2,500 after raising matching funds.

Among the projects is a multicultural festival organized by the Christie Lake Kids' Leaders In Training.

The festival will take place on Sept. 16 in the Caldwell Avenue gym and community centre, and will feature presentations and activities showcasing the different cultural backgrounds of neighbourhood residents.

The festival was conceived as one way to address the problem of racism faced by a community housing project where people live in close proximity

"There's a lot of different cultures living in close quarters and there are clashes," said Jennifer Hepditch, director of the Christie Lake Kids' STAR program (Skills Through Activity and Recreation).

Henna tattooing and the sampling of food from different cultures are among the activities being planned.

Another project will allow five Ottawa youths to attend a camp organized by the Muslim Association of Canada.

According to the MAC's Ottawa-based youth secretary, Mohammad El-Kadri, the goal is to teach Muslim youth "how to better our situation by bettering ourselves."

Participants will spend this week at the camp in Bancroft, about 220 kilometres southwest of Ottawa. There will be games and sports, as well as lectures on Muslims' religious duties and their duty to their country.

The AIDS Committee of Ottawa received funding to set up a drop-in group for youth living with HIV/AIDS. Since May, meetings have taken place on the first and third Monday of every month, providing a venue for youth to connect with others dealing with HIV/AIDS related issues.

Other groups funded in this first round of grants were the Rainbow Youth Advisory Committee, Child and Youth Friendly Ottawa, YOUCAN Team Ottawa, the youth leadership group at Britannia Woods Community House, the Academy of Heru Auset, a weekly cultural program for children of African descent, and the Michelle Heights Youth Advisory Committee.

Mr. Admasu hopes the projects will show youth that they can make a difference in their communities. He quotes the old Boys and Girls slogan:
"Every kid has potential."

The trick is to catch them before they get into trouble, he says, because once they do, "They get branded as a drug dealer, or a gang leader."

He wants youths to realize, as he did, that even if the odds are against them, they "can do big things in this world."

© Ottawa Citizen 2006